If you want to be honest, the Canon Sonic is stronger now then he was during the dreamcast era, Sonic X and Archie Canon are not part of the canon storyline, so don't go by them, Dark Sonic may be Sonic without the remorse and in a pure instinct state, but he is not canon. The Werehog is a canon form that happened in this current era, Super Sonic is a planet burster in canon, and he is more powerful now then he was years ago, Hyper Sonic is just Super Sonic at full power, he's not a different super form. Darkspine is considered to be a dark form, Werehog is a dark form as well, the form may not be as powerful as the others, the Werehog in canon is considered to be one of the most powerful characters in the canon story, he was able to punch two ghosts off a planet, even Knuckles or Shadow at ture power can't do that, The Werehog is using his own power, Shadow uses tools to fight, he's not known for being a fair fighter like Sonic. Sonic will only use the power of the chaos emerald if the planet is at sake, he won't use a emerald if it is a simple battle. Shadow will use the emeralds just so he can win a fight, he is no warrior like Sonic. His arrogance blind him from the ture meaning of the fight.

You know that's great and all, but I don't exactly play Sonic games for 'fights' and 'super forms'.

It's a colourful plaforming game about a cartoony blue hedgehog trying to stop a egg shaped lunatic who builds machines that's followed by a wacky premise. And yet somehow this causes the fanbase take it too seriously...

@King_Rover: Yes I was, Remember, there is a huge power gape between Sonic then and Sonic now. Shadow has never fought anybody fairly in a fight, and had to relay on tools to fight with, and he never has fought Sonic fairly in a fight or has beaten him in canon. Shadows fans really need to pay close attention to how he fights, being the untimate life form does not mean you are better then everything else, Sonic has proven himself to be more of a warrior than Shadow has. Fans today don't take Sonic as seriously as they use too, mostly because they can't tell what is canon.